The green monster bread is, indeed, amazing. However, I made the moo-free seitan and had some issues. Normally I steam or bake my seitan, but this time I followed the slow cooker instructions in the book and cooked the seitan for the prescribed 8 hours. Then, i let it cool completely in the broth, as instructed. What I ended up with was a brainy-looking, spongy, totally fall-apart mushy seitan that didn't taste like anything, really. I resurrected it by turning into Vegan Crunk's Seitan Wangz, which helped a lot. But did I do something wrong? The slow cooker was on low, but was it boiling too fast/high? I'm stumped, and now I'm scared to ever boil my seitan again.

Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 1:23 pmPosts: 563Location: *the* state with the only votes that matter

beethecookie, I'm so sorry the seitan didn't turn out for you. I think you are right the the slow cooker must have actually run hotter. Hurray for you for resurrecting it, but it sucks that it gave you problems. You can always try it in the oven as cutlets at 300 degrees if you are up for trying again!

I've still only made the bread. I make that green monster bread all the time because it's amazing. I do it in the bread machine now so it's even easier to make.

When I flip through, everything seems time consuming. Can anybody recommend a cheap recipe that can be made in under 30?

what comes to my mind first are......

retro KFC sandwich.i went out and bought the ume plum vinegar, it was maybe $3-$4, but then later when i was flipping through the front of the book she mentioned (double check me for sure) that you could sub red wine vinegar for the ume plum vinegar.

the deviled (not) egg salad sandwich (i used canned chickpeas)

i adore this cookbook and have a long list of recipes i want to make, i've also made a few others, incredibly tasty, but sadly the names of the recipes escape me.......

_________________"....but I finally found block tempeh a few weeks ago with the intent to give it my virginity." -Moon

Those all sound good. I have some ume plum vinegar. I assume vinegar doesn't go bad? I've had it for eons.

i have not fully read this long discussion on chowhoud, but a quick google search does indicate that vinegar can go bad..... my ume plum vinegar is from eden foods and from what i understand it is not pasteurized so it can go bad. i'm pretty sure we stuck our bottle in the fridge and i dated it so we can keep an eye on it......

I've still only made the bread. I make that green monster bread all the time because it's amazing. I do it in the bread machine now so it's even easier to make.

When I flip through, everything seems time consuming. Can anybody recommend a cheap recipe that can be made in under 30?

I agree with others in recommending the Chickpea Shawarma. It's fairly quick, and very tasty too. A bunch of the recipes are denoted with a clock icon, indicating they might be more suitable if you are pressed for time.

I'll admit I'm intimidated by a lot of the recipes, and that's based solely on the length of the ingredients list. And I really need to be in the mood to deal with recipes that require me to make other recipes first. Like the KFC sandwiches. You have to make the No Cluck Cutlets first. When you add up those 2 recipes, it really does take awhile, but the payoff is you get 8 sandwiches.

I really like the Beet and Barley Burgers. Between all the prep and clean-up it is a little under an hour. BUT, I get 8 burgers out of it and they can be frozen. I can knock out a week's worth of lunches at once.

beethecookie, I'm so sorry the seitan didn't turn out for you. I think you are right the the slow cooker must have actually run hotter. Hurray for you for resurrecting it, but it sucks that it gave you problems. You can always try it in the oven as cutlets at 300 degrees if you are up for trying again!

Thanks, Tamasin! I will be trying again, so I will just bake as cutlets in the future.

I forgot to mention in my last past that I also made the Mushroom Tomato Slices last week, and loved them! We ate one loaf, and then the other is in my freezer, awaiting future sandwich glory!

I've still only made the bread. I make that green monster bread all the time because it's amazing. I do it in the bread machine now so it's even easier to make.

When I flip through, everything seems time consuming. Can anybody recommend a cheap recipe that can be made in under 30?

I agree with others in recommending the Chickpea Shawarma. It's fairly quick, and very tasty too. A bunch of the recipes are denoted with a clock icon, indicating they might be more suitable if you are pressed for time.

I'll admit I'm intimidated by a lot of the recipes, and that's based solely on the length of the ingredients list. And I really need to be in the mood to deal with recipes that require me to make other recipes first. Like the KFC sandwiches. You have to make the No Cluck Cutlets first. When you add up those 2 recipes, it really does take awhile, but the payoff is you get 8 sandwiches.

I really like the Beet and Barley Burgers. Between all the prep and clean-up it is a little under an hour. BUT, I get 8 burgers out of it and they can be frozen. I can knock out a week's worth of lunches at once.

Yes, this sounds like me. The length of the ingredient lists is getting me. Ditto with the burger book. I've sadly underused both of these. I'll take a more practical look through them this week.

Appreciate the suggestions.

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk

I made the party monster to eat during the superbowl. I went lazy and used tofurkey hickory turkey and some vegan pepperoni. I added black olives because everybody in my family loves them. It was really great and a great presentation. Why do I never take pics??

I've still only made the bread. I make that green monster bread all the time because it's amazing. I do it in the bread machine now so it's even easier to make.

When I flip through, everything seems time consuming. Can anybody recommend a cheap recipe that can be made in under 30?

I agree with others in recommending the Chickpea Shawarma. It's fairly quick, and very tasty too. A bunch of the recipes are denoted with a clock icon, indicating they might be more suitable if you are pressed for time.

I'll admit I'm intimidated by a lot of the recipes, and that's based solely on the length of the ingredients list. And I really need to be in the mood to deal with recipes that require me to make other recipes first. Like the KFC sandwiches. You have to make the No Cluck Cutlets first. When you add up those 2 recipes, it really does take awhile, but the payoff is you get 8 sandwiches.

I really like the Beet and Barley Burgers. Between all the prep and clean-up it is a little under an hour. BUT, I get 8 burgers out of it and they can be frozen. I can knock out a week's worth of lunches at once.

I used extra firm tofu for the KFC sandwiches (as a sub suggestion in the recipe) and it was freakin' fantastic.

_________________"....but I finally found block tempeh a few weeks ago with the intent to give it my virginity." -Moon

LW, you might try the triangle tempeh apple dipper thingies, as long as you remember to defrost your puff pastry they're pretty fast!

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

I'd also like to add that yes the ingredient lists are a bit long, but perhaps if you a whole foods, earth fare, or other natural foods store in your area, you could buy some spices in bulk. i ♥ my earthfare for their bulk spices. i've bought like 1 cinnamon stick for 10 cents and small amounts of other things for incredibly cheap prices. the great thing is is that the bulk spices actually smell better than the fancy jarred stuff i buy at the grocery store.

_________________"....but I finally found block tempeh a few weeks ago with the intent to give it my virginity." -Moon

Oh, I know. Only one WF around sells bulk spices, and I was lucky enough to get a bag of Spanish oregano when I was in the area. For weeks after, I couldn't resist sniffing the oregano everytime I walked past the pantry. So lovely. Wish I could get more!

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk

I just made half bagels and half rolls of a recipe of Green Monster Bread. Holy shiitake, so good. The recipe was remarkably easy to make, even by hand - I mean, I made it on a weeknight after work. It smelled so good baking that I only managed to wait about 5 minutes before I sliced open one of the rolls and ate it plain. I freaking love this stuff. I wish I'd made it sooner. I'm gonna make it as a loaf this weekend and use it for Mike's lunches.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

The Green Monster is pretty much up there among my faves of all time, but we made the Cinnamon Swirl Bread yesterday and my son claimed that it was the best cinnamon bread ever. It's really good, although the cinnamon filling was a bit different than what I am used to. It was almost stringy, like gum? Good though!

green monster bread is so on my to-do list. just curious, i have glass pryex loaf pans. would this bread, since it's yeasty, be better off baked in a metal type loaf pan?

I made my green monster into large round rolls, so I can't attest to metal vs. glass with this particular recipe. However, in my experience, yeast has always done well in glass pans so I think you'd be fine.

This seems like a good weekend to dive into this book further with various things...Those of you who made the Green monster bread by hand, how was it? very sticky? I think I'm gonna attempt it anyway. And the boiling method is necessary for rolls, yes? Because I find rolls more sandwich-friendly than homemade loaves, probably because I suck at slicing bread, so that'll probably be my preference. How many "large round rolls" would you say it makes?

also, I've made just the dressing and chickpea mixture for the Nicoise salad several times already...I love that as just a tuno sandwich and I think we may do the tempeh unfishwiches this weekend which incorporates that dressing because it's soooo yummy.

yes i'm pretty sure the boiling method is necessary for the bagels, i read that online somewhere, same with pretzels, otherwise you just end up with a fancy breadstick that is not at all chewy pretzel-like

_________________"....but I finally found block tempeh a few weeks ago with the intent to give it my virginity." -Moon